Forest Green Rovers have moved to refute the suggestion that a video went viral showing a football supporter being sent off for eating a bacon sandwich on Saturday.
Forest Green Rovers have dismissed reports on social media that a fan was removed from the ground for eating a bacon sandwich. (Image: PA)
National League side Forest Green Rovers have broken their silence and denied reports on social media that a fan was ejected from the ground after eating a bacon sandwich. Footage has been published on online platforms showing fans being ejected from New Lawn Stadium during the match against Morecambe, with suggestions that fans may have brought in their own food.
Forest Green, who were members of the Football League for seven years before being relegated to the non-league system in 2024, became the world’s first vegan football club in 2015. The decision was made by chairman and environmentalist Dale Vince to ditch meat and fish in favor of plant-based foods.
Consuming a bacon sandwich would therefore have been seen as a move against the club’s move to switch from meat to a plant-based menu. However, the Green Devils issued a statement denying the claims, suggesting the man was dismissed for failing to comply with repeated warnings from stewards after he was repeatedly cautioned for showing “overexcitement”.
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In a post to X, they wrote: “We are aware that a video has been circulating online following yesterday’s match against Morecambe.
“Contrary to social media opinion and common sense, the sending off had nothing to do with Bacon Cerny (sic). It was just a bit of ‘too much excitement’ on the last day of the season. After repeated warnings, the stewards had no choice and the gentleman was sent off from the stadium. #NeverKnowTheTruthGoodStory #SlowNewsDay.”
The video, which appears to have been posted to TikTok, was displayed for about 18 seconds and the caption read: “Lawyer/Morecambe fan removed for sneaking bacon butty into Forest Green Rovers.”
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The footage showed three stewards removing the gentleman before X users reposted the video on another platform. It is unclear how long the alleged Morecambe player missed football, but his team lost 5-0 to Robbie Savage’s side, ending an incident-hit season.
This means the Shrimps have been relegated in three of the past four seasons and will drop from League One to regional football’s National League North next season.
For Forest Green, Savage’s first season in charge ended on a high note after adding sparkle to a campaign that saw them reach the play-offs. They travel to Boreham Wood in a National League play-off qualifier on Wednesday for a place in the semi-finals, where they will face Carlisle United.
Robbie Savage led Forest Green to the National League playoffs in his first year on the job. (Image: Getty Images)
In a 2015 interview, Vince explained the decision to switch the entire menu to plant-based. He said: “As a football club, we stopped providing meat to players, fans and staff around four seasons ago.
“Since then, we’ve been on a mission to introduce our fans to this new world. When you move away from the meat and veggies approach, you open up a whole new world of food options.
“The gap between vegetarian and vegan food is actually very small. This is not a leap, but a step. For some time, much of our food has been vegan, but this season we have taken one last small step.”
In a blog post on his website dalevince.com, Forest Green’s owners claimed the changes have paid dividends, winning Sports Leisure Catering magazine’s Menu of the Year award over meat-based caterers across the country.
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